ST. MARYS – Host St. Marys knocked down eleven three pointers on Friday night as they opened their 2021-22 season with a 75-52 victory over Fairview behind a career high 24 points from Noelle Ruane.
Fairview jumped out to an early 3-2 lead in the first two minutes of the game on a three pointer from Kelly Crites and lead 8-7 with 4:21 to go in the opening period but found themselves outscored through the rest of the period 16-1.
The host Roughriders took the lead at 10-8 with 3:48 remaining on a Kendall Dieringer triple and added a second from Dieringer and a pair from Ruane before the period buzzer to amass a 23-9 lead.
Held without a basket for nearly five minutes after the Bethany Singer free throw that made it 8-7 Fairview in the first, the Apaches ended their drought to cut the lead to 23-11 on a basket by junior guard Carrie Zeedyk before their opponents once again loaded up on their way to a big run.
Freshman guard Reese Rable’s three point goal with 4:00 remaining in the opening half pushed the Roughrider advantage to 30-15 and represented the first points of her varsity career.
Leading 37-22 to begin the third stanza the hosts again turned to Ruane for the bulk of their scoring and were rewarded as the 3rd team Western Buckeye League selection from a season ago knocked down three triples and a fast break basket for 11 of her game high 24. Ruane’s 11 period markers represented every basket for St. Marys from the field to go along with a quartet of free throw makes from teammates Morgan Hesse, Kendall Dieringer, and Karsyn McGlothen.
“I’m so proud of Noelle for the entire game she played tonight. She shot the ball lights out and had the confidence to shoot the ball while also playing a great game defensively” said St. Marys coach Jon Burke after the game about Ruane’s evening.
Carrie Zeedyk led the charge for the Apaches in the third as she tallied seven points but was unable to get her team back to single digits on the scoreboard as the St. Marys lead grew to 52-36 heading to the final eight minutes.
Sophomore Kelly Crites shouldered the scoring load for the visitors in the final stanza as she accounted for a trio of triples and a pair of baskets that included a successful and-one opportunity early in the quarter to cut the disadvantage to 64-52 with 3:50 remaining but received only one basket of help from her teammates due to the Roughriders tremendous defensive pressure.
Seven St. Marys players dented the scoreboard in the final period that saw the final two from deep from the sisters Rable (Cora and Reese) to secure the 75-52 opening night victory.
Noelle Ruane led all scorers with 24 points that saw her connect on all six of her three point attempts on the evening. Teammates Morgan Hesse and Kendall Dieringer each joined the double digit parade with 13 apiece while Karsyn McGlothen added 10.
Kelly Crites led Fairview (0-1) with 21 points while Carrie Zeedyk chipped in 15 for the Apaches who will be in action next on Tuesday evening when they play host to Archbold.
Next up for St. Marys (1-0) is a Tuesday evening trip to Kalida to take on the Wildcats.
On the topic of his team’s opening night performance Burke opined “overall we had spurts that were really good but we need to clean some things up defensively. Cora Rable and Kendall Dieringer had to play very disciplined in the second half because of their early foul trouble but were able to take over the control of the game in the fourth when Fairview was making their push. Karsyn McGlothen played a strong game for us and we got some key plays from Morgan Hesse as well.”
Scoring:
St. Marys (75):
Ella Jacobs 4
Morgan Hesse 13
Kendall Dieringer 13
Reese Rable 6
Noelle Ruane 24
Cora Rable 5
Karsyn McGlothen 10
FT: 6/15
3PT: 11 (Ruane 6, Dieringer 2, R. Rable 2, C. Rable 1)
Fairview (52):
Kaitlyn Zeedyk 5
Bethany Singer 3
Carrie Zeedyk 15
Kelly Crites 21
Haley Hammer 8
FT: 9/19
3PT: 6 (Crites 4, C. Zeedyk 2)
JV: St. Marys 29-24